A Hall of Mysteries
by SeiyaStars
Summary: Rose Leighton is just trying to get through school...if only that annoying Jason would let her. But when Jason hints at knowing more about her father's death than he's letting on, Rose begins to wonder just how much she's been told as a child is the truth


Rose flipped over and glanced at the alarm clock. Surely it wasn't seven yet. Surely her eyes were lying to her. But no, seven a.m. was staring her right in the face. She hated getting up early…

_Come on, Rose. When you have a real job, you'll have to get up at whatever time they tell you. Not that that makes this any easier, but hey. Reality check._

"Five more minutes?" she muttered.

"Aw, c'mon, Rose! It's sunny today!" said Ally, an eternal optimist of a friend. Ally was from Ravenclaw, and the two girls got along perfectly, and had since their first year at Hogwarts. Ally easily made friends, so the other girls didn't care whenever she showed up to their dorm room to wake up Rose.

"Ally, you are _far_ too cheerful for seven in the morning," Rose grumbled.

"Nah," said Ally. "I'm actually as tired as you this morning. I pulled an all-nighter last night finishing up that paper for Potions…gosh, those papers are ghastly."

"I don't know…I don't have any trouble with potions," said Rose, starting to wake up a little more. "It's divination…divination is kicking my butt right now."

"Divination…" said Ally, sort of dreamily. Of course, Ally was really good at divination. She would probably be a professor of it in a few years, if she decided to pursue it. "I don't understand why you have such a hard time of it. I really like looking into the future. I think I really have a gift."

"Well then, oh gifted one, am I ever going to pass divination?"

Ally glanced at her friend cheerfully. "I doubt it. But fate is a tricky thing."

Rose groaned and lay back down, pulling the covers around her head.

"Rose!" Ally giggled, and yanked the sheets off of her. "C'mon, we'll be late for classes. I'd at least like to have breakfast with my best friend before Charms."

"Oh fine," said Rose, exasperated. She got up and threw on some clothes and walked down to breakfast.

It was no remarkable day for Rose. She wandered from class to class, turning in a paper here, making a note or two of new assignments there. She decided to take lunch out on the grounds and sat under one of her favorite trees.

It was a beautiful fall day, late October. Rose unwrapped a sandwich and stared at the scenery. She pulled out a notebook and began to scribble down a few things, her blonde hair falling around her face. It was days like today she was glad to be something of a loner. People generally left her alone because they thought she was aloof and snooty. She didn't correct them. Rose was proud of her intelligence, and very guarded when it came to friends.

So you can see how it shocked her when a boy came and sat down next to her.

"What are you writing?"

Rose's head snapped up to glare momentarily at the intruder. "Who are you?"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," he said, with a slight smile on his face. "Name's Taylor. Jason Taylor. Nice to meet you, Miss…?"

"Rosemarie Leighton," Rose answered, stiffly. "You may call me Rose."

"Rosemarie," he said, thoughtfully. "I like it. Sounds like a family name?"

"My grandmother's."

"Well, Ms. Leighton, why are you eating alone?"

"You're awfully nosy," said Rose flatly.

"And you're awfully tart."

Rose's eyes flashed. "What do you mean by that?"

"Ah, so there's still some resentment there, isn't there? You wanted to be the brightest witch of the age, didn't you?"

Rose was getting close to completely blowing this guy off. Who did he think he was, coming up and telling her things about herself? And how did he know all this stuff about her, anyway? It was creepy. She decided to dismiss the young man.

"It's none of your business," Rose said simply. "Now, if you'll excuse me…"

"What are you writing?" he asked, snatching her book out of her hands. "Hmmm…interesting. You must be a romantic under that cold exterior."

Rose stared at him. "You're out of your mind. I don't know who you are, or why you like to harass women, but you need to leave me alone."

"Do you really feel like I'm harassing you?" said Jason, thoughtfully. "Pity. I was just trying to get to know you. Seems like you could do with some friends."

"I have friends," said Rose defiantly.

"But they're not real friends, are they?"

"Now what's that supposed to mean?"

"They're more like…acquaintances, right? Not actual true friends."

Rose sighed. "You don't take a hint very easily, do you?"

"Nah, I'm just really bull-headed." Jason smiled cockily.

"Why do you care about me anyway? Don't _you _have any true friends?"

"Not really," Jason remarked. "Though like you, I have a few acquaintances."

"Is there something you want to accomplish through this? Did someone dare you to talk to me or something? You're wasting my time."

"I don't think so, Ms. Leighton. I think I know things you want to know. Like how your father died."

Rose looked at him with renewed hatred and curiosity. "How the hell do you know so much about me?"

"You really don't remember me, Rose?" Jason asked.

Rose looked into his hazel eyes carefully. There was something tugging vaguely at the back of her memory, something from her first year at Hogwarts…something she'd repressed.

"Jason…?" Rose asked, trying hard to recall the incident.

"Remember, our first day? On the train? You were crying, and by yourself. So I stopped to talk to you. You told me that—"

"My father had just died." Rose was putting the pieces together. Her heart ached as she remembered herself that day on the train.

"You needed a friend then," he said. "And I think you need one now."

"Don't presume that I need your friendship," said Rose, halfheartedly. "I was a foolish child back then."

"So don't be a foolish child now," Jason said quietly. He looked at Rose. "Don't give up, Rosemarie Leighton. I think I may know something that might help you piece together what happened to your father."


End file.
